Extra Services

Mother, baby suffer burns in fireworks accident

Date Posted: 2003-08-30

A 30-year-old woman and her one-year-old son suffered burn on their faces and arms when a firework went astray and exploded near them at Katsuren Festival on Saturday. According to Gushikawa Police, the last piece of fireworks failed to shoot up properly and instead fell down on a tree and exploded. Burning fragments of the firework fell on the woman and her son. The two were taken to a hospital and released after treatment.

An eyewitness says most of the crowd had left the site when the accident happened. It was lucky that there were not many people left. There was no panic, but everyone working at food booths got quite scared, the witness said. He said that the last piece of fireworks shot off normally but suddenly turned down and hit a tree where it exploded. I heard a twin explosion and the tree caught fire, but festival security people were able to douse it immediately, the witness explained. No one else was injured in the accident. Police is investigating to the cause of the incident.